Bob Gibbs
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Bob Gibbs, of Lakeville, Ohio, is an American politician in the Republican Party who currently represents the 97th House District in the Ohio House of Representatives.
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[edit] Background
Gibbs was born on June 14, 1954 in Peru, Indiana. His family moved to Cleveland in the 1960s, and Gibbs graduated from Bay Village Senior High School. In 1974, he graduated from the Ohio State University Agricultural Technical Institute and moved to Lakeville, Ohio where he co-founded Hidden Hollow Farms, Ltd. Formerly a producer of swine, Hidden Hollow Farms currently produces corn and soybeans.
[edit] Experience
Active in the agriculture and business industry, Gibbs served as President of the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation, Ohio's largest agriculture organization which has over 210,000 members. Gibbs first joined the Ohio Farm Bureau Board of Trustees in 1985 and established himself as an informed advocate of agriculture.
Gibbs also served as a board member of the Farm Bureau Bank, the Ohio Livestock Coalition, the Ohio Cooperative Council, and the Ohio Farm Bureau Alliance. Gibbs was also president of the Loundonville Farmer's Equity in Loudonville, Ohio, where he served on the board for 12 years.
Gibbs has also served as president of the Holmes County (Ohio) Extension Advisory Committee, the Holmes County Farm Bureau, and as a supervisor for the Holmes County Soil & Water Conservation Service.
[edit] Election to Ohio House of Representatives
Gibbs was first elected to the Ohio General Assembly in 2002, defeating Democrat Tom Mason of Ashland for a newly drawn district in the Ohio House. He was re-elected in 2004 in a rematch against Mason.
During the 2006 statewide election, Gibbs was re-elected, receiving 60.48% over Democratic challenger James P. Riley, a former township trustee from Sullivan, Ohio.
Gibbs began his third term in the Ohio House of Representatives on January 2, 2007 and will be eligible to run for a fourth and final term in 2008.
[edit] Member of the Ohio House of Representatives
Gibbs has been an advocate for responsible government and introduced nine bills during his first term in 2003-2004, four of which were signed into law by Governor Bob Taft. Another of his bills, the Personal Responsibility Common Sense Food Consumption Act, was amended into the Comprehensive Tort Reform Bill in December 2004. He was also the lead sponsor of House Bill 223 which introduced rebutable presumption laws to the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation. In August of 2005, Gibbs introduced House Bill 331 (companion bill to enacted Senate Bill 167), which prevents Emenint Domain takings for private entities following the Kelo v. New London decision in the U.S. Supreme Court in June of 2005.
In 2006 Gibbs was appointed to serve as a member of the Special Task Force to Study Eminent Domain and Its Use and Application in Ohio. The committee spent most of the year studying the issue and issued its final report in August of 2006 with recommendations to the General Assembly.
Gibbs is known as a leading advocate in the statehouse for reforming the Streamlined Sales Tax Agreement to help Ohio's Small Businesses.
[edit] Committee Membership
Gibbs currently serves as Chairman of the House Ways & Means Committee. He also serves on the following standing or special committees in the 127th General Assembly:
-Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee
-Financial Institutions, Real Estate & Securities Committee
-Healthcare Access & Affordability
-Insurance Committee
[edit] Awards
Watchdog of the Treasury Award United Conservatives of Ohio (2003-4, 2005-6)
The Guardian of Small Business Award NFIB Ohio
Leadership Award Ohio Restaurant Association
Leadership Award Holmes County OSU Extension Service
[edit] Family
Bob is married to the former Jody Cox of Wooster, Ohio. The two have been married for 30 years and have three grown children. Bob and Jody are members of the Nashville United Methodist Church in Nashville, Ohio.
